I think you may be confusing the R-05 with the previous R-09 / R-09HR. The original R-09 is the one which had input jack issues on early models, but those are over 10 years old now.

I've not used the R-05 but it seems fully capable. I used several of the the original R-09s back in the day and they were workhorses. I expect the R-05 has superior preamps and I'm sure it has a superior ADC. Others who use it will likely post, but I don't think going that route would be a bad choice.

As a long time Roland R-05 user, I think it is a great deck. Most R-05 users think so. I have always preferred the R05 to anything else in the 1/8 input small deck category. The Sony was a fine deck too, but I prefer the Roland.

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You made a great choice. I bought one recently and ran it side by side with the Sony M10. Without question, it can hold it's own against the M10, sound wise.

Roland/Edirol finally got it right with the R05. A natural evolution from R1 > R09 > R09HR >R05. Sadly, the R05 was so "late to the party", that not many people own them in our field. Its a well built recorder and it's tiny too.

thanks for the correction, gys! I was wrong and will delete that post!

Actually no.

The R-05 had issues with the circuit board that lead to a fault at the input jack (I believe mine was on the line in jack as I vaguely recall). That was the end of mine. Someone here bought mine with the disclosed flaw and took it apart to reroute some things on the board and got it working again (I think using the headphone jack instead). There's a thread here somewhere...

It lasted a few years (though I did baby it) but I was ultimately disappointed and bought an M-10 the next time despite that costing more. I've never looked back and much prefer the M-10 but it seems those factors may be a matter of personal preferences.

Maybe they've fixed it since. It does appear the price may have gone up (though with no competition I'd expect that to occur).

The R-05 is probably the best option being made now though. Mine was good until it went unreliable (and toasted a channel at a show - at least I got mono as it quit).

If you like this recorder you might want to grab a back-up if you can. Going the way of the Sony M10, B&H has the Roland R-05 listed as "discontinued" on their website. Guitar Center and Musician's Friend have it as "unavailable", Sweetwater notes it as "out of stock". Full Compass and Adorama appear to still have them.

If you like this recorder you might want to grab a back-up if you can. Going the way of the Sony M10, B&H has the Roland R-05 listed as "discontinued" on their website. Guitar Center and Musician's Friend have it as "unavailable", Sweetwater notes it as "out of stock". Full Compass and Adorama appear to still have them.

I just started using a Roland R-05 as a replacement for an M10. In terms of sound quality, the results it produces are very close to the M10's--conceivably better in some listeners' estimation. However, in terms of operation I find myself missing several features of the M10 and wondered if, in light of them, someone could point me to a recorder that is more like the M10.

- The R-05 has a red light to signal overload, like the M10, but lacks the green light indicator for normal full levels- Gain control on the M10 is adjusted through a knob that can be turned even when the device is off, whereas the R05 uses digital controls that won't even engage if one isn't recording and make it time-consuming to raise or lower recording level significantly.- I really miss the T-marks on the M10. The Roland allows one to splice files on the fly while recording but not to mark them or splice them subsequently.

I don't know if at this late date anyone else is considering this substitution but if so, I hope these observations are helpful.